About Tacoma & Pierce County DSA

Who are we?

The Tacoma & Pierce County Democratic Socialists of America are a group of socialist organizers who live and work in and around Tacoma and Pierce County, Washington State.

We seek to facilitate the transition to a truly democratic and socialist society, one in which the means and resources of production are democratically and socially controlled by the workers themselves.

We reject an economic order based solely on private profit, alienated labor, gross inequalities of wealth and power; discrimination based on race, ability, age, gender, and sexuality; and brutality and violence in defense of the status quo. We envision a humane social order based on popular control of resources and production, economic planning, equitable distribution, and total social equality for all people.

Our Structure

Our elected officers comprise the Coordinating Committee, whose duty it is to see to the day-to-day operation of the chapter, and to facilitate the work done by the rest of the organization. Our elected officers are two Co-Chairs, a Secretary, Treasurer, Lead Organizer, Education and Communications officers.

The loci of activity in our chapter occurs in our Working Groups. Our active working groups organize around Housing Justice, Healthcare, Labor, and Electoral work.

About the Democratic Socialists of America

The Democratic Socialists of America is the largest socialist organization in the United States. Founded in 1982 as a merger between the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee and the New American Movement, in the present day, it has grown into a “big tent” for leftist organizers of many tendencies committed to achieving justice through anti-capitalist action. At the core of DSA’s values is a radical commitment to true democracy, not only in our organizing but also in our workplaces and communities.

Why Socialism?

From our chapter bylaws:

Our conception of socialism is a profoundly democratic one. It is rooted in the belief that human beings should be free to develop to their fullest potential, that public policies should be determined not by wealth but by popular participation, and that individual liberties should be carefully safeguarded. It is committed to a freedom of speech that does not recoil from dissent, to a freedom to organize independent trade unions, women’s groups, political parties, and other formations – recognizing these as essential bulwarks against the dangers of an intrusive state. It is committed to a freedom of religion that acknowledges the rights of those for whom spiritual concerns are central.

We are socialists because we are developing a concrete strategy for achieving that vision. In the present, we are building a visible socialist presence within the broad democratic left. In the long run, we hope to build a majority movement capable of making democratic socialism a reality in the United States. Our strategy acknowledges the class structure of the U.S. society. This class structure means that there is a basic conflict of interest between those sectors with enormous economic power and the vast majority of the population.

We hold, like those before us, that “There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of working people, and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life.” We assert that labor, not capital, creates all wealth and working people are entitled to all they create. We are, like those before us, for socialism because we are for humanity. And like those before us, we re-assert that “If there is no struggle there is no progress.” We are for progress, for socialism, for the struggle, and for humanity. Onward.